what here is natalie. >> i felt out of touch before i got my ipad and iphone. i had a pink flip phone, embarrassing. >> john talker has one of those. >> when former disney stars are twirk twerking, i feel out of touch. >> twerking is a topic on out of show and being touched aggressively by joe and mika. did you see that? >> i did. it was a little aggressive. "morning joe" beginnings right now. ♪ as i went walking i saw the skyway ♪ ♪ i saw below me

rolling round me this land was made for you and me ♪ >> welcome to "morning joe." that, obviously, the sound of pete seeger who popularized "this land is your land." he wrote so many american classics. so popularized. we shall overcome. "turn, turn, turn." and "if i had a hammer." what an incredible story pete seeger. >> passed away at the age of 90. it's tuesday, january 28th. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set is former chairman of the republican national committee michael steele. abc news political commentator and senior analyst, cokie roberts. she is also the author of a new children's book "founding mothers remembering the ladies." i love it!

>> illustrations are amazing. >> the illustrations are fabulous. diane good who is a caldecot winner did those. these pare the women that influenced the founding fathers. i wrote it grown-up book about them a while back. this is the children's version and kids are loving it. i tried it out on my grandchildren and, of course, they had sense enough to say they liked it. >> they have good genes. i have a god daughter who is getting there. msnbc contributor robert gibbs is in washington and julianna goldman is also with us. good to have you all on board this morning. >> we have a lot to talk about. >> poll numbers are pretty painful. >> poll numbers for the president as we prepare for the

state of the union. poll numbers for chris christie. pretty stung, precipitous drop there. let's start with pete. >> as you pointed out, he was the father of folk music. this morning, of course, we get the news he has died. he dropped out of harvard in 1938 after found ago radical newspaper and often described himself as a community with a small c. by the '50s he was fighting against mccarthyism and black listed for attempt of congress for defining the americans for activities committee. he had modest success with his music group the weavers but many of his songs gained other fame through later groups. he wrote "turn, turn, turn." "if i had a harm." and "where have all of the flowers gone." a voice of protest during vietnam playing for tens of thousands in washington, d.c. some 40 years later, he stood in front of the lincoln memorial as

we came into alongside his grandson and bruce springsteen singing "this land is your land." it was a celebration for barack obama inauguration. he was a kennedy award recipient and a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. his impact on modern murks from rock to folk is incal kabul. he tried tirelessly to clean new york's hudson river and in later years, even participated in occupy wall street. pete seeger was 94 years old. what a life. >> when i was 5 years old in doraville, georgia. my mother who was a musician trying to teach me guitar and she started with "where have all of the flowers gone," i just took the guitar out like six months ago and was showing that song to kate. >> oh, that's fun. >> i was actually moved by the

lyrics and simplicity of it. >> we can all sing all of those songs actually in harmony. watch out! we might start to do that today. but he really was the music of many generations now. >> i was going to say what struck me about his music sounds like "turn turn turn," svery soft, you know? something that, you know, was easy on the ears but had a very powerful message. particularly when you consider that era where a lot of the music with the rock and hard drive, he had this sort of calm. >> kind of reflected also that undertone of the movements of the 1960s. the piece marches of king and so forth. >> as mika read that script, think of the scope of his life. he dropped out of college three years before world war ii begins

and thrown in jail for contempt of congress because he won't testify about the community party and comes through the occupant wall street and playing for president obama at his inaugural. >> the tempt citations were quite something. people don't rave people went to jail because they refused to take the fifth amendment. they took the first amendment and said i refuse to testify because of freedom of speech. and were just thrown right in jail for it. >> really quickly, just to fill in the blanks for some people that are watching this and heard the read. a couple of quick things. first of all, willie is right. he dropped out of harvard in 1940. he was actually protesting against the draft, the peace time draft. but as soon as the bombs dropped at perarl harbor he enlisted an served in the army and later regretted it, being a communist

and said he thought stalin something he was not. that came newspaper a real good "usa today" story this morning that came out after bob dylan called him a saint and he said, oh, god! he said, i've made so many terrible mistakes in my life. so any way. self-reflective as well. pete seeger, remarkable man gone at 94. moving on. tonight, president obama delivers his state of the union address before congress. according to new polling, the president faces a fractured nation skeptical he can turn things around. the nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows 30% of americans say our state of the union is divided. other words used to describe it, troubled, deteriorating and broken. just 3% believe the union is strong. 33% say they are pessimistic and worried about the remaining three years of president obama's second term. just 16% say they are optimistic

and confident. so eight points down from the same time last year. 63% say they were currently on the wrong track, that we are on the wrong track, also up from last year. just 28% are satisfied with the economy. 71% are dissatisfied. when asked who the economy works best for, 81% say the wealthy and 53% say men. only 22% said the economy works for the middle class. all of those factors contributed to president obama's 43% approval rating. it is the third straight poll by in business and the "the wall street journal" with the president's disapproval rating was over 50%. things are not better on capitol hill. this poll marks the sixth conservative time at least 80% of americans had a negative view of congress. >> pretty staggering.

>> look at that number. that is down to relatives. >> the friends and family plan, as they say. >> wow. >> i don't know. maybe just relatives. 45% said they would like to see democrats take control of congress during this year's midterm elections. >> chuck todd also pointed out yesterday one of the shocking things about this poll is that for ten years now, americans have believed this country is going in the wrong direction. that has never happened before. just like for the first time ever, time and time again, more americans think cokie roberts, their children future will not be as bright as their own and never happened in the history of american polling before. yes, this president has a lot of problems but these problems are also -- they transcend just one administration or one party or one president. >> but he owns them as he goes in tonight. he is going to be speaking to a congress that is completely

disconnected from what he has to say because why should they pay any attention to him? you know? he is -- in an absenc poll that came out this weekend he is negative. with the one exception of terrorism and that one he was at 50% approved, 42% disapproved and that is down, though, dra t dramatically from where it used to be and he has a huge problem here. you saw in your poll and same thing during the abc poll, so does the congress and the republicans in congress are even worse shape than the democrats in congress, but on issues, again, they come back around. the economy, which, of course, you can see in your poll, is the main reason that people so dissatisfied. >> right. >> the issue they care about going into this election. they do trust the republicans more on the economy right now than they do the democrats and

on that very fundamental question that separates the parties, which party do you think has a better idea of the size and scope of the federal government? republicans win on that. that's really tough for the president as he tries to present a bunch of programs. >> robert gibbs, that is a real challenge, not only for this president but also for democrats and republicans, their numbers are very high if you talk about, you know, the general question, the negatives or do you support or oppose the republican party but you go issue by issue by issue and republicans actually start faring better than they have in quite some time. i want to talk about, those the bigger challenge the president faces. i remember six years into ronald reagan's term and i was a huge fan of his and he got me excited about politics for the first time. at some point about six years in, i think he was talking about the congress at the time, five or six years in, and it occurred to me that americans just tuned him out. they were tuning out the great

communicator and i guess every president faces that challenge but it seems the great challenge of this president as well. chuck todd said it yesterday and cokie was talking about it this morning. >> trying to bring people in through online and social media they are trying to tune in the tune-out factor. >> isn't that the great challenge for the president right now? >> i think that is one of the challenges. we get our information from a lot more places than in 1976 and i think it's smart of any business or the white house to communicate where people are, but i definitely think you're right. look. whether it's -- you know, whether you want to call it the six-year itch or something like that, clearly the president, i think, was and the white house were buffetted controlled by events in 2013. i think what the president's real task tonight is lay out in front of the american people a plan of action and a tone that

shows and demonstrates that he is ready to make and capable of making real progress, particularly on issues like the economy. and that, again, they are not going to be buffetted from crisis to crisis. you're always in some ways feeling with the news of the moment in the white house, but i think 2013, for this white house, felt like they were controlled by those events, less that they were in control and had a focused agenda and i think that's the challenge that the president has to put in front of the american people tonight and give them confidence that he has a plan to make real progress. >> if you look at those poll numbers, it's not just the president that perhaps the country is tuning out but washington has been tuned out completely. if you look at 81% disproofing of what is happening on capitol hill that means we have had these big conversations about gun control and immigration and tax reform, entitlement reform and we have nothing to show for it. i guess the only thing we really did do was health care which the

president got that through and look what that turned into. how do we restore faith in washington and not just in the presidency or in capitol hill, but in the process? >> there is a staggering statistic for the president going into tonight's speech which is from that last year's state of the union out of the 41 asks he made of congress, he got two and they were raising the debt ceiling and a reauthorization of the violence against women act. there certainly isn't a good track record heading in and that sort of explains the president's challenge tonight when you look at the polls and why there is this emphasis on income and equality and upward mobility because americans are seeing banks, financial institutions, big businesses doing well. they are seeing them as the beneficiaries of the economic recovery and they are seeing that their wages are stagnant, that the benefits of the recovery of obama's recovery have not hit them yet. >> so michael steele, they will

be competing rebuttals tonight, the president's speech. >> halfway. >> to say the least. congresswoman carriage mcmorris rogers for the republican response and mike lee for the tea party and rand paul has his own personal rebuttal. >> for rand paul. >> yes. for which i just explained. >> we have to have a three-way message to the american people after the speech and so now it just illustrates and lifts up for those folks out there, you know, the question. who is going to lead here? >> right. >> if you've got the party that can't, you know, corral itself enough over this one night to say let's have a consistent forward thinking message delivered on behalf of all the rpeds n republicans, not just the ones in congress. >> but they can't. >> they can't. the question for me and it reflect in the polls if people are looking at the congress as 13% number, who do they vote for

this november? because in all likelihood will send those people back to congress. >> do they bother -- >> right. and so this, you know, kind of approach that we have seen to fallen into the last few, you know, presidential addresses does not give us a round that are over that hurdle. >> although i must say i would just give up the response to the state of the union. >> yes. >> it's ridiculous. the president walks in. he's in the hall of the house of representatives. there is an e nerms flag behind him. he has got george washington and lafayette on either side of him and people are cheering and grand and it's some guy with a teleprompter in the room and that guy or woman, whoever it is, always looks ridiculous. >> i actually think kathy mcmorris-rodgers will do a good job and i think the other two undermine it. why not let the strong woman actually have a strong response for all republicans? >> you would think coming off

the heels of the -- >> war on women. >> the war on women conversation with libidos that this would ab moment to say, fellows, step aside. >> let kathy step up and do what she does well. they can't ever do that. i'm sorry, i'm speaking as a whiny woman right now. seriously, let us have the stage once a while and speak for ourselves. why can't she speak for all three of these people? who is rand paul? what is his personal rebuttal? what is so funny? >> letting a woman talk. >> am i wrong? >> of course, you're not wrong. >> it's just bad for the party. but whatever. whatever. it never works out well. but it sends a message. it sends a strong message to the american people that the republican party, they don't like what barack obama is doing. they don't like his policies. they don't like his health care plan. they don't like his economic plan. you go through the nbc news/"the

wall street journal" poll and abc/"the washington post" poll and on issue after issue after issue, the american people have turned on barack obama's policies. >> yeah. >> what is the response? >> a party that is so fragmented they are having three responses tonight? no. it's depressing. >> probably the best speaker is -- >> all right this just crossed. >> in our republican party. >> i agree. president obama is going to be signing an executive order requiring that janitors and construction workers and other federal contractors be paid at least $10.10 an hour using his own powers to enact a more limited version of a policy that is yet to push through congress. raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25. >> for contractors. >> for contractors. >> yeah. >> well, that is his line these days which he has a pen and a phone and he can do things by executive action where he doesn't need the congress and he is trying to send them a message

to raise the general minimum wage. they may or may not do that. as julie anna just said, they haven't done much so it's unlyle they will do it but it's an interesting interest, because really what that issue does it is gets to his base. it does not get to the general public. even men who want to -- who are making the minimum wage and want to make more, basically, are just off this president and the democratic party. whereas, the majority of people on the minimum wage are women and they will probably respond positively. >> i like it. >> can i? >> just real quick, robert. go ahead. >> i would say i disagree somewhat with what he just said. i think raising the minimum wage is probably into the '70s in terms of its popularity. the question for tonight is not whether or not it's popular. a lot of things you'll hear about are popular, but that is

how do you get them through congress? how do you get a 70% or 75% issue through the house of representatives? how do you get it to the president's desk? i think that is what people will want to hear about tonight. >> all right. one more story before break. the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll takes a look at the recent scandals in new jersey have impacted governor chris christie. just 22% of americans say they have a positive view of christie, that is down from 33% last october. and the percent of voters have a negative view of the governor has increased by 12 points. meanwhile, 42% believe christie is telling the truth about the george washington bridge scandal and his numbers are sinking almost democrats and independents view him with tepid report. first read points out his presidential future may object

the line according to these numbers. >> you're grimacing. >> it's reflective of the story beginning to sink in with a lot of folks. more revelations. more information coming out. more democrats who once supported him endorsing him, whatever, now coming out and telling these stories. that's why i said then and say now christie's focus has to be on jersey. it has to be on being the governor of new jersey. i understand the competition for his time with the rga and the desire to get him out there, but i think if he steps it back, dims the light on the stage a bit and really focuses regalvanizing him in the state. >> the republican party will never nominate chris christie. this republican party will never do that. george washington bridge could never have been built and they still never would have -- >> really? >> it's a stunning view. 22% positive. 29% negative.

absolutely stunning and a quick reversal. i wrote a cover store in "time" magazine after the guy got elected talking about his future. and the battle with getting conservatives over. i think he could have done it and i think he still can but i agree with michael steele. if i'm chris christie, head down, jersey first, jersey all the time. you know what? the best thing he can hope for. >> a month of relentless coverage will take an effect on your numbers. >> they have had a ball with him. >> but i will say if you look at those numbers, 22 positive, 29 negative, that means 50% of americans had no opinion of him yet which means he has got room, he has got space. the election is a long way away if he runs for president. he has got time to recover. >> robert, this is just a snapshot like after the election was a snapshot and six months from now if nothing comes out of the subpoena we will see another snapshot so it is too early but

why does it matter? i think it matters what chris christie needs to do is stay inside of jersey and work for jersey? i would season aif there is any rga meetings, they will be in jersey. i'm serious. i would not leave the state. i would not raise -- i mean, he's got to worry about himself. >> look. i think if he is smart, he takes the message that clearly got him reelected with 60 plus percent of the vote just a few weeks ago and goes down and sort of tries to double down on that message, try to find a few more issues to bring republicans and democrats together to get something done, sort of redo that message. i do absolutely agree with willie. the flip side of that poll shows that half of the country has yet to make up their mind about chris christie. that's a positive and a negative. the question is how does he go about filling in for the other 50% of the country that is yet to hear about or formulate a big

opinion about him? how does he go about filling that in and what does he do? i think, as you said, hammering home what he has been successful at doing in new jersey and making sure, quite frankly, that the mess around the bridge and hurricane aid and all this other stuff is dealt with and contained. >> all right. coming up on "morning joe," retiring senator tom coburn joins us. also valley jarrett senior white house adviser and joaquin castro of texas. up next the top stories and political playbook but, first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> 39 million in the keep dow jones industrial average under advisories and warnings. no milk and bread in many of the stores i'm hear and people preparing for the worse. warnings from louisiana beach and including along the gulf coast. we are having an ice storm in savannah to charleston and myrtle beach and half an inch of

ice will take down trees and pour lines a power lines and could have a power outage coming coming up to the weekend. storms will be historic. as much as 6 to 12 inches in a few spots and a chance of getting a foot and that includes the norfolk, virginia beach area and extremely southern virginia will get the snow. i don't make snow maps like this very often. south carolina, maryland, atlanta, georgia, mobile and even new orleans has a chance of getting accumulating snow and isolates on tonight. drive carefully in the deep south or stay home. many of the schools are already cancelled. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ what about now aflac! aflac! got 'em. ♪ yeah, he's clean, boss. now listen to me, duck. i have an associate that met with, uh, an unfortunate accident. while he's been incapacitated,

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are we still on for tomorrow? tomorrow. tomorrow is full of promise. we can come back tomorrrow. and we promise to keep it that way. csx. how tomorrow moves. what a day. can't wait til tomorrow.

welcome back to "morning joe." let's take a look at morning papers. "the washington post" afghan

president hamid karzai is leveling new accusations against the united states government including allegations that american officials are behind terror attacks aimed at weakening his control and building instable in the country. the afghan leader says the u.s. was involved in a recent asaul and the capital of 21 dead and 23 americans and the latest of a string of allegations by karzai who is refuse to go sign an agreement with washington, d.c. the ambassador of aelve called ha divorce. charleston daily mail. january 9th chemical spill was much worse than originally reported. regulators believe 10,000 gallons of chemicals leaked into the state's water supply. initial estimates have the leak at 7,500 gallons and residents in nine counties along the elk river were unable to use their tap water for days because of

the week. >> the impact that have for years to come is going to be potentially just terrible. "the new york times." new documents from edward snowden reveals spy agencies are tapping into smartphone appears. the nsa and britain spy agency reportedly are working together to access personal information, including a user's location, sexual orientation, and political affiliation. google maps and flicker and facebook are targets for spying as well as popular games like angry birds. oh, my lord. i better tell jack, my 5-year-old boy. >> yes. >> "star wars" 2 angry birds has him targeted by the nsa. great work, guys. great work. >> they have to keep their eye on everyone, i guess. >> even jack. new jersey star ledger. a new study links exposure to the pest side ddt with alzheimer's.

80% of those found with the disease had been exposed to the chemical. on average, levels of ddt were nearly four times higher in the blood of adults with the condition. the use of ddt was banned in 1972. from "the boston globe." notable guests will attend the president's state of the union address. they are going to be seated with the first lady michelle obama and include two survivors of the boston marathon bombing, the ceo of general motors. >> first woman. >> and antoinette tuff, the teacher who talked down a gunman at an elementary school. the white house has traditionally invited guests to the state of the union speech. sales fell short for apple of analyst predictions of 55 million iphones. experts say this is proof apple is losing market share to competitors like samsung and

stocks fell 8% yesterday. one of the problems is when you break your iphone and you go back, you get sucked into an abyss of trying to figure out how to replace it. >> this happens all the time and you have to spend more money and this happens to a lot of people and they are getting tired of it. >> such awful luck with apple. >> no. this is is like almost a scam, i tell you. >> people complain about the battery life but i got to tell you -- >> but when they break you end up spending a thousand dollars. >> i have five to ten minutes left on my iphone. >> use it quickly and don't go out in the cold. >> i shall not. the "l.a. times." quentin tarantino is suing. the director says he is, quote, very depressed over the leak. >> apparently so. >> the complaint accuses gawker of use predatory journalism to let people know the script was on line. he had no involvement in how the

story appeared on the internet. let's go to politico. i don't understand that story. why would you sue gawker? >> gawker is going to do what gawker is going to do. >> leave gawker alone. let gawker be gawker, damn it. let's check in with mike allen, the chief white house correspondent for politico with a look at the morning playbook. >> good morning. predatory journalism is a good thing. >> there it is says mike allen. republican ed ga lillespie missed out. talk about a warner backing a warner. >> this is a real slap to ed gillespie from another very well-known republican, one of the best known, most trusted republicans in the state. john warner who was the long time senator, i can remember him covering him when i was a cub down in virginia. he would always say, i'm proud, be humbled to be your senior

senator. he once ran against the man that he is now endorsing mike warner way back in 1996 opinion mark warner challenged him his first statewide race and mark warner had bumper stickers that said mark, not john, the two not related. today, mark warner who is a moderate, someone who can really reach centrist voters came out and said republicans should vote for mark warner, a democrat. the reasons he gave were the fact that the commonwealth benefits from the seniority he has built up in the senate and done a good job looking out for the military presence. he didn't say anything about ed gillespie but a rough way for ed to start off when his campaign just launched this month. >> does this say more about warner's relationship with mark warner? they had a pretty civil campaign when they ran against each other or does it say something that

warner feels about ed gillespie? >> i think it's more about the friendship. the two have worked closely together and john warner likes to stay in the news and this was a great way to do it. >> politico's mike allen with a look at the playbook, thanks so much. >> happy state of the union. >> we will see you. david ortiz says he wants to retire in boston but we are not sure if the chihuahua in his lap agrees. what is going on here? we will explain when "morning joe" comes back. ♪ more than a feeling more than a feeling ♪

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♪ they were doing a greyhound race in new zealand and a 6.3 magnitude earthquake during the race and didn't stop the guy from calling the race and staying calm and just doing his job. check it out. >> shaking here, i'm afraid. looks like we might have a bit of and this earthquake going on here. a very good earthquake. in fact, a very large earthquake going here. the race is under way here. unfortunately, the modum has fallen on me but i've managed to pick it up. >> what does it take to rattle that guy? i'm being mugged right now. yeah, i'm bleeding a little bit,

actually. i'm bleeding a lot. he took my billfold. there he is. rusty is in the lead. >> like you always said, nothing gets between you and the puppies. they are running. >> dogs. >> earthquakes. >> nothing between me and the dog. the super bowl is coming up in a few days right across the river in new jersey and now is your chance to get, we will call them, discount super bowl tickets. >> good! good! >> oh, good. how much? >> they expected super bowl xlviii to be one of the pricest tickets in history but, yesterday, they said they available for much less than expected. >> fantastic. >> bookers say an 800 dollar ticket is now going for 1,200 bucks. in other years tickets were selling twice the coface. neither say broncos or the seahawks have a big fan base. that's not true, i don't believe. the teams are not particularly

sexy. i don't know who would say that. >> teams not sexy? >> there are people like mike barnicle that if you're west of the mississippi, he calls you beijing. barnicle will say it's a shame he plays in beijing. >> why aren't they sexy? >> i would like to totally disagree with what i just read. i think they are both incredibly sexy and i think it's going to be a great game. >> peyton manning has a fan base in indiana and a fan base in louisiana as well as -- >> is he hot? >> i think the whole family is pretty cool. >> they are so cool. >> russell wilson is one of the biggest stars of the game. richard sherman, the cornerback. the whole world knows him now. >> move on. i'm bored. >> nba action. >> let's talk about my book if you're bored? >> i like that. hold on a second. >> i like it! let's go to hawks and the thunder because this is all about kevin durant. we are tied at 109 with less than five seconds on the clock.

>> a double team by the hawks. >> durant pulling up. firing and he scores! 1.5 left, he has done it again! >> this man is on some kind of streak here. kevin durant with the go ahead jumper and finishes with 41 points. that is his 11th straight game scoring at least 30. the thunder win the game 111-109. the thunder, by the way, play the heat this week. lebron against durant, the two best players in the game. >> i haven't been following the nba this year. how are the knicks doing? >> not so well. they are doing a little bit than they were. >> are they improving? >> they are improving, yes, on the margin. the brooklyn nets who started terribly have stormed back and they are in second place. >> are they really? >> yes. >> that is exciting. >> they turned it around. >> that's great. i'm dead serious. you want the nets. >> after the pacers and heat is so weak and the nets could rise and be the fourth, fifth seed or something like that. >> how are the celtics doing?

>> larry bird. mchale still has the moves down low. baby hook. a master. david ortiz looking for a multi-year contract extension from the red sox. had he a great year last year. leading the sox to a world series title while claiming the world series mvp award. during an interview with a boston tv station, ortiz and his little dog talked about his future. >> i would like to retire a red sox but that doesn't plan on me. you know, this is business. people have different touch every year and hopefully that is not the case, but, like i say, you know, i think i will represent this organization and hopefully they see it that way. >> i love that man. >> i love ortiz. >> cute dog. >> were they wearing matching shirts? >> oh, my god! >> way to go. >> ortiz is so awesome. >> there was a reason. he had his dog on his lap to

bring attention to the humane society was the reason for it if you didn't know that and just watching where he sports a chihuahua on his lap. >> he is the greatest clutch hitter in the postseason. i say that recognizing reggie jackson in the '70s but this guy, i'm sure they will do what it takes to deep kookeep him. >> they will not let ortiz go. >> finally, the world's mayor. toronto mayor. >> yes. >> he is really the world's mayor. >> he belongs to all of us. >> why are we doing this? >> making a serious pitch to his city and lawmakers to consider spending cuts to video the deficit. >> he is a conservative with a small c. >> back to business. he did all of this trying to make a serious point in a giant denver broncos jersey. >> folks, without rob ford in charge, it doesn't take long to return to the tax spend ways of the past. the reality is since november,

councilmembers seem to have forgotten who pay the bills. the taxpayers or our boss. >> the taxpayers. >> will somebody please, will somebody please listen to this man? >> by the way, number 74 is orlando franklin, 6'7", 300-pound tackle for the broncos. >> why is he wearing that jersey? >> is he coming down? >> i don't think he is allowed. >> he is coming down in something else. >> mika's must read opinion pages when we come back on "morning joe." so what's better, bigger or smaller?

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48 past the hour. a live look at the capitol. looking ahead to the speech tonight. time for the must read opinion pages. i'll read from "the washington post" carter eskew how the president's speech can be memorable. make clear he won't xep accept imitations. here the president can weave his two main themes together. there is a clear path to a stronger middle class. but it's being obstructed by republicans. tonight, the president can gaze out on the nation's political figures and whether they are clapping or sitting on their hands, paying attention or yawning, he can know that he is still politically stronger than

they are. >> julieanna, how does he use that strength? >> really is not what he just says tonight, joe, but the follow-up from here and that has always been a challenge for this president and the white house, and part that have is because of issues beyond their control. i mean, how many times have we talked about the president pirouetting or pivoting back to a discussion on the economy. i think it's imperative when he goes on the road trip after the state of the union he continues to hammer home these issues so that americans don't feel like it's just a one-off speech and then it's back to trying to deal with getting the affordable care back on track. part of the issues why his approval ratings have taken a hit the past few months the affordable care out and shutdown and bungled response to syria speaks to issues of capability and credibility and that is something that he is going to have to follow through with as

he pursues some of these initiatives. >> you're right. he has just got to prove that it's more than a speech. willing to prove it's more than a book. i want to read some fascinating stories. debra reed franklin. we always suspected that benjamin franklin probably wasn't good for details and need add strong woman running for him. >> she did. you hear in your history books benjamin franklin the first postmast earl in the united states. he wasn't in united states. he was in england. his wife debra franklin ran the postal service. this is when we are still a colony and the britt tries to fire one of his workers. she writes him a letter, you can't do this. that is absolutely ridiculous. by the way, you're slowing down the postal service which i've

paid good money to have run. this picture is her telling off lord louden who is in the palm of her hands. quite wonderful. but there are million like that. these women were very, very feisty and funny, and somewhat flirty. >> and they have their places. >> i'm reading about sarah livingston j. >> and katherine littlefield green who was is the wife of the southern forces in the revolution. and one time she would go to camp with the soldiers every winter as martha washington did. one time she and george washington danced for three hours straight. so it was a good thing that martha was on hand. >> as you say these women's were no shrinking violence, they were the center of american history and i'm reading about doll by madison. she flees the city and saving her own life but comes back to help rebuild the city. >> and saving george

washington's portrait and a lot of government papers. >> that's cool. >> she was really an incredible politician and was recognized at the time as an incredible politician. henry clay said to her at one point, everybody loves mrs. madison and she said that is because mrs. madison loves everybody but i have read her mail and that is not true. >> i love this. i'm going to read it because it's short. after john corbin was killed at ft. washington, new york, his wife margaret took over his artillery position. by the time the british won the battle, she had received three gunshot wounds but margaret never stopped firing. her wounds made it impossible for her to work so congress gave her the same money as other disabled workers soldiers. she is buried at the military academy at westpoint. what an incredible story. >> so finding out about 18th century women, even women like martha washington is hard, but one of the ways we do it is through pension records from the

government and, of course, their letters and their diaries. since this is a children's book, i felt it was sort of important to say to the children, it's okay to read their mail because they have been dead 200 years. >> that is different. they have their place in history. foundi ining mothers. thank you, cokie! julieanna, goldman, thank you very much. ahead we talk to senator tom coburn about his plan to replacement obama care and valley jarrett ahead of the president's state of the union address. keep it here on "morning joe." ♪ one more day your way ♪

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coming up at the top of the hour, "the washington post" eugene robinson and nbc news political director chuck todd. "morning joe" will be back in a moment. for over a decade

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♪ to everything puerto ric turn turn turn there is a season ♪ turn turn turn and a time to every purpose under heaven ♪ >> remembering pete seeger this morning who passed away at the age of 94. he is there playing "turn turn turn," a song that the birds turned into a monster hit in the mid '60s. what an incredible life pete had. he went to harvard and dropped out and decided to ride a bike across the country, a good thing to do, and changed music. >> if you read about list life and the people he influenced, you can bring it all the way up to modern day, you snow bob dylan says there is no bob dylan without pete seeger and he

brought bruce springsteen in front of the american culture and encouraged him to do the president's inauguration when he played five years ago. there he is in '89, i think, it is. >> he wrote some incredible songs. popularized "this land is your land we shall overcome." but did write "turn turn turn", "if i had a hammer" and "where have all of the flowers gone." later in life, he said it was a mistake with some of what he has done. >> the protest movement. >> remained an activist and kept protesting and fought for the environment until the day he died. >> yes and against the war and for civil rights. he was really the sound track of many generations. >> let's hear it for a few more seconds. ♪ turn turn turn and the time for every purpose

under heaven ♪ top of the how are you. welcome back to "morning joe." robert gibbs and cokie roberts is still bus and joining us is editor of the "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst, eugene robinson and at the white house political director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. shall we get right to the news? >> no. what i want to do is an iso on chuck. >> okay. >> let's just look. >> he is blue. >> looks kind of cold. >> i feel like i am actually in the movie "frozen." >> we are going to talk for about, i'd say, nine minutes and we might get to you. >> it was actually my choice to be out here. it was easier. i'm doing my show from chill to easier to come here than the bureau. i have nobody but to blame but myself. >> your mouth doesn't work. all right. >> blah, blah, blah. >> that's horrible.

>> blah, blah, blah. >> we are going to be talking about the bone chilling freezing temperatures ahead. >> than new york city. >> i don't know about that! >> strong and sturdy people of this city. look how cold it is! >> frigid. tonight, president obama delivers his state of the union address before congress and according to new polling, the president faces a fractured nation. skeptical that he can turn things around. nbc/"wall street journal" polling shows 37% of americans say our state of the union is divided. other words used to describe it, troubled and deteriorating and broken. just 3% believe the union is strong. 33% say they are pessimistic and worried about the remaining three years of president obama's second term. just 16% say they are optimistic and confident. down eight points from the same time last year.

63% say they we are currently on the wrong track, that we are on the wrong track, also up from last year. just 28% are satisfied with the economy. 71% are dissatisfied. when asked who the economy works best for, 81% say the wealthy and 53% say men. only 22% said the economy works for the middle class. all of those factors contributed to president obama's 43% approval rating. it is the third straight poll by nbc and the "the wall street journal" with the president's disapproval rating was over 50%. things are not better on capitol hill. this poll marks the sixth conservative time at least 80% of americans had a negative view of congress. now 45% say they would like to see democrats take control of congress during this year's midterm elections. >> chuck, this is your poll. take us through it. >> well, you look at the poll and if the president were actually reflecting what the public would say, he would not say the state of the union is

strong. i mean, i go back to that first question that mika read. the way we ask that question, you could pick up to two different words and we gave you that list of words. 90% of folks we surveyed, 90% picked of one of the two words they picked was a negative word. to only have 3% overall say that the state of the union is strong and this is a reflection. it's interesting in this polling and i've seen it in some other polling is the public is really so down on washington that they are on the verge of giving up on washington. and i think that that is the challenge for the president tonight. on one hand, i think he has put together a speech that does reflect what the public wants to hear. if you go throughout the poll and you look what i say is the public's agenda what they would like to see prioritized this year everything i understand from the state of the union the president is talking about those things but is the public going to tune in and listen to him?

look at the numbers you have a majority that essentially don't believe the rest of his second term is going to get any better. does that mean they have given up on him? i think these are the things that would be going through my head in the west wing, worried about why this speech is so important for him tonight because i think it's the last best chance he has of getting the public to listen to him, but you have to look at these numbers and wonder is that already passed? >> gene robinson, we are going through the opposite of sort of the era of good feelings. chuck said it's been a decade since americans thought this country was going in the right direction. taken together the numbers from george w. bush's presidency and barack obama's presidency paint a very bleak picture of where washington, d.c. has been for over a decade now. >> it's a very, very sour mood obviously. i think there are a lot of

reasons. i mean, some are big global forces that washington really can't reverse or control, globalization and the information economy and the rise of china and all sorts of things that have disrupted our economy. but a lot of it is the dysfunction in washington, i think. >> yeah. >> and i don't know how you deal with that, except what we understand president obama is going to do tonight which is just to talk about things that he is going to do and then do them. he has got three years left. >> it's then doing them that is the issue, however. how does he then do them? and that is, i think, part of the reason the people are so fed up is they don't see things getting done. in our abc poll this weekend, 27%, only 27% said that they would reelect their own member of congress. they probably won't have the opportunity to elect anybody

else and that is a problem, but they really don't see anything happening and more than 70% said that the way washington works is going to be a major factor in the way they vote in this election. >> it's also a factor in, i think, the tuneout fact of the glaze-over factor that the president faces tonight. some might argue it's not all the president's fault that people are turning out, that it's just washington completely, michael steele, suzy would say when her husband would board, she would say, glazing. >> we're glazed. >> yeah, glazing. how does the president punch through that in a state of the union speech? >> that is the hard part. chuck, i believe, made the point yesterday, the problem the president has is you're going to have the loyal faithful watching. so why does the rest of america come into this picture and how does the president grab their attention? that is the challenge. he is going to go out on the road and take his state of the

union message on the road. >> those always go well. this is the national -- >> go out on the road and you do the same thing over again. i think the president is -- the interesting challenge he is going to have on is this executive approach that he is going to, you know, run the government by executive leadership and executive orders. chuck, a quick question for you. how does that play with the guys and gals on the hill? i just don't see them sitting back and letting the president raise the federal contract wage from $7 to $10 because they are like, wait a minute, who is appropriating the extra 3 bucks an hour? >> actually in an odd way, members of congress, you know, it's an election year. if he wants to do executive actions i think they -- i don't think they want to do anything to -- nobody seems to want to do anything. democrats want to run against a republican and don't want to do anything and republicans don't want to do anything that might give the president credit. i think we are oddly the -- there is a political benefit to

both sides to allow the president to go executive action. i want to go to this other part here. i actually i think there is an opportunity the president to do the moment to grab america by the shirt collars and say something like you know what? the country is strong and resilient. we in this room are a mess! we in this room, you know? it would be one of those refreshing moments of honesty if he actually addressed everyone and said you know what? the state of this room and of politics of washington is disgusting and mess and they are all mad at us, guys. i don't think the president is going to do that. they say he wants to do an optimistic speech but part of me thinks if you really want to grab the attention of the public again, do something like that, acknowledge the reality of the situation. >> that would be different. >> it would be. >> that would be very different. >> willie, the president -- this is what i say to my kids from

time to time. i say you got to put some points up on the board. you can talk all you want to talk and plan all you want to plan but at some poirks you got to put some points up on the board. julieanna, last hour, had a great number. he asked for seven things in the state of the union last year and he got two. this president is not putting points up on the board. people got tired of reagan talking. this president has to get things done. yes, there is a republican congress. you know what? even for argument's sake, let's just blame the republican congress for absolutely everything. if that makes you feel good, helps you sleep at night, it's all their fault. blame them all you want. it doesn't matter. he is still president of the united states. has got to get things done, willie. and going on some talking tour after this speech tonight is not going to do anything. >> the question is what are those things? i think he has looked issue by issue and wondering what can he possibly do? maybe it's immigration reform

this year and maybe an election year before everyone goes out campaigning he would do but he has to figure out what that is and i think what is the executive orders is and taking executive action is getting some points on the board. i know you're not in the white house any more, robert gibbs. >> thank god. >> thank god! >> a moment of honesty. >> there you go. >> but you know the president very well. we know what this poll says about how the country is feeling about him. how is he feeling about the country right now? this is a guy who came in five years ago saying change comes from outside washington. we are going to break the fever and we are going to change the way washington does business and we are going to get things done. he has learned some pretty hard lessons in how washington works or doesn't work. >> well, i think, you know, the ability to change washington, i think, is something that long ago the white house sort of stopped trying to do and whether or not that is a good thing we will look back on history. i do think that, you know, this

is a story of washington dysfunction. i think chuck hit the nail on the head. there is everything in this speech is what the public wants to hear. the public just doesn't simply think that this group of people assembled in this room is remotely capable of solving those problems. 2013 was a lost year for the president. he was buffeted by crisis after crisis. and i think the test of this speech will be do the american people that do watch, do they feel like this president has a plan to get some of those things done. >> yeah. >> or is this just another speech out of washington. >> what is different? >> because it's just another speech, it's hard to see the lasting impact on a speech, as chuck rightly points out. the president really needs to do well with. >> joe, what can dough? and then chuck. invite top republicans to join him on the road? they won't. what is possible in this atmosphere? >> you know, a deal is always

possible. it's always possible. i always say -- you know, i always tell people, there is always a deal to be made. cokie you've seen this in washington today. the fact of the matter is the difference between bill clinton and ronald reagan and barack obama is they were raised in states where they had to do deals. and if they didn't do deals -- even nikki haley, tea party governor of south carolina said at the rga, we governors can't afford to shut down the government. i got to talk to democrats. i'm the governor. because they have to be. barack obama never had to strike a deal. he never had to get in there and do more than just invite republicans to the state dinner. you got to actually give them something. you make somebody -- i'm a guy so, you know, gene robinson, you do the godfather quote, you know? you make them a deal, an offer they can't refuse and there are

offers out there that republicans cannot refuse. the business community won't let them do it and their base won't let them do it and barack obama has to be more skillful. first of all, it's a two-step approach. i've said this before even though i would oppose it, i would hammer republicans on minimum wage every night, every morning, every day. i would have events and i would humiliate them and make them run for cover if i were a liberal democratic president. you know why i would do that? because it's unof the few things that barack obama could do if i were still in congress and i think, oh, god i hope he doesn't do that because how will i plain that? >> i think i wrote that column actually, just what you said. go out there and hammer then on minimum wage. >> and teach them that, then you say, okay, guys, let's talk. what do you feed? >> exactly. >> what do you need? i will give you what you need and you're going to have to give

me what i need. that's how it's worked in washington since george washington. >> that is exactly what happened on the budget deal was, you know, they shut down the government so they learned. that is the equivalent of beating them occupy the minimum wage. they shut down the government and then they learned, oh, wait. that really was a mistake. wait! people really are mad at us for that! wait! our leaders were right about that! then they did make a deal. >> right. >> and now we have that to put aside for a while. >> let me pull in gene here. every time i say something like that, people say i'm naive. the fact is i'm not naive. no, i have 230 years of highwst on my side. logs say it doesn't work this way for the ones that are naive. >> you're right about the minimum wage. he should be hammering every day on that. i think immigration is probably something on which there is a deal to be made. >> yes and. >> because there is so many elements of it. the white house has already

essentially conceded that it doesn't have to be one huge lump. they can do it, take a more piecemeal approach. i hope we will hear about that tonight because i think that is a big thing that probably can get done if it's approached skillfully. the other thing, i don't discount this executive action that he can take on serve on some big issues like, you know, what he is doing on the federal minimum wage. there are also things on climate change, for example, that he can do by executive order. people will notice and that will make a difference. >> willie? >> chuck, i want to ask you about another part of the nbc/"wall street journal" poll taking a look at the rencent scandal in new jersey have impacted people. people have a positive view of

christie is down to 22% and 42% say they believe christie is telling the truth about the george washington bridge scandal. 44% believe he is not. christie's numbers sinking among democrats and independents an even among republicans who view him with only tepid support. we made the point last hour, chuck, he still has some time to get through this and he still has a lot of room because half the country, if you look at that poll, has no opinion of him at this moment. what do you make about a month into this about where he is? >> i think the rational for chris christie is disappearing. that is the problem he has got. this is -- when you look the whole point of him was look at how well he pulls at independents and he polls with democrats. he actually had tepid numbers with republicans. all of the republicans we tested over the last year, he always had the highest negative rating. walker had a better favorable rating among republicans, ted cruz, marco rubio. you name the republican and it had to do with the

conservatives. it's mostly conservatives who are very skeptical of christie, christie's ideology, et cetera. the problem is those numbers have not improved. those numbers are essentially treading water and what made him different was that he did better among democrats and independents. that has collapsed and that has gone. they view him now skeptically and they don't like him any more. all of a sudden the entire foundation for christie for president to me has disappeared. this doesn't mean he can't recover from this. this doesn't mean -- but i don't know how he recovers from this as a presidential candidate. one thing to recover from it as a successful governor and finish successfully but what he has got to worry about is a permanently sort of ruin his record with the idea that he can work across the aisle. by the way, i have a little inconvenient poll result on immigration. of the 15 issues we tested, there was three, i think, where there was not even 50% support

saying it should be a priority this year, even among democrats across the board. immigration was one of them. climate change was one of them. both immigration and climate change didn't have 50% support to nak a priority this year among republicans or democrats or independents. it is interesting. immigration is not seen as a priority with a mants of any gro -- majority of any group that we tested. >> we were talking about that yesterday morning. a lot of people in washington and new york always loved to say, oh, if the republicans, you know, could only get a hispanic guy out there to like marco rubio to talk about immigration reform and push it, we will be okay. no. that's actually not the case at all. >> except that it is a signature issue with hispanics and it is the same way that civil rights totally turned off blacks to the republican party. this issue is turning off hispanics to the republican party and they can't afford to

have that. >> specifically the way, though, that mitt romney ran his primary campaign in 2012 went a long way to debate the things he was saying, no doubt about it. i think it's something, though, that bill kristol said, i agree. we wait until after 2014 and probably will have a republican senate, knock on wood, somewhere, if they can keep libido in check. >> that will be tough. >> tough to nominate candidates who talk about legitimate rape. >> you have three, not one, not two, but three! you'll hear from tonight. >> libidos and stay away from all of that stuff. that is fatiscinating, chuck. something people in washington and new york don't like to talk about much. >> it's not in the public's lives. not so say they don't think there should be immigration reform but it is where it is on the priority list and in a

majority of people's lives, they are not sitting there saying unless this is impacting you personally. i agree with cokie politically. it's just not a priority to the majority of the american people right now. >> eugene, stay with us. robert gibbs, thank you very much. chuck, thank you. who do you have coming up on "the daily rundown"? >> nancy pelosi live interview. she doesn't do a lot of live interviews and one of the 17 republicans that are responding to the state of the union. >> is she responding too? >> she is. >> cool. >> i think 17 or 18 of them. >> wow. >> we got a whole channel of just their responses. >> wow. that is a ratings winner. >> we have tea party and republican and spanish language, you name it. no. but she is a good miami gal so we will talk with her. >> you can catch chuck in theaters now in the movie "frozen." >> hee hee.

>> is that my beard? my beard is going all the way down. >> it's an icicle. congressman joaquin castro will join us next. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ hmm, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well, did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em. hey now do i hear 23.75? 24! hey 24 dollar, 24 and a quarter, quarter, now half, 24 and a half and .75! 25! now a quarter, hey 26 and a quarter, do you wanna pay now, you wanna do it, 25 and a quarter - sold to the man in the khaki jacket! geico. fifteen minutes could save you... well, you know.

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welcome back to "morning joe." live look now at the sun that is up on washington. on state of the union day. here with us is congressman joaquin castro. great to see you, congressman. >> good to see you. >> pick up on a conversation we were just having before the break about immigration. chuck todd going through the nbc/"wall street journal" poll saying that issue, at least to most americans not at the center of their lives and not a priority for most people. do you believe it's something the president should talk about tonight and pushes through this year? >> i think so. i was one of the folks that thought we would do it in 2013.

it has been a long time coming. and this president has been pushing for it for a long time. and i'm also heartened to see that republicans finally seem to be getting down to business in terms of proposing principles. they want to do it piecemeal and we want to do it comprehensively but at least we are moving on tichlt a it. >> i think we will do it either this summer and if it doesn't matt happen this summer it won't happen until the next term. >> gene robinson has a question for you there in washington. >> congressman castro, just from your vantage point inside the house, do you see any sort of -- between becomes and republicans? do you see any possibility that republicans can willing now to cooperate on legislative agenda with the president and move forward on some of these issues, or will the president's words tonight be just talk?

>> i do think that the budget agreement at the end of last year and then the omnibus bill early this year have helped create momentum for the two parties to work together. gene, i do see some openings there, not only on immigration but on criminal justice reform. i agree with joe scarborough that if democrats, what the president should do is put the pressure on for raising the minimum wage and i do think that that will bring republicans to the table on the minimum wage issue. >> congressman, you wrote an honest piece in "texas monthly." mr. castro goes to washington. you write, one year ago i was sworn in as the united states congressman representing texas 20th district. i was a seccor to a south texas legacy and part of the most diverse freshmen class in history and len that there are more good souls in washington than brave ones and learned that the whole is not always the sum of its part. what you put in doesn't always match what you get out.

all 535 of us could be busy and routinely work 12 hour days yet together we often wind up producing very little. >> it took me six weeks to two months to write that piece and people would always ask me during the year what is the most surprising thing about this job? the most surprising thing is how everybody can be so individually busy. as a whole, we produce very little. as you know, last year was the least productive year, i think, in american congressional history and that is very disappointing and very frustrating, not only for americans, but also for those of us who came to washington to actually do something. >> so, congressman, how do you change that? it's a question we ask every day on this show. the president is frustrated and congress is frustrated on the other side and everyone says all the time that nothing gets done in washington. you've seen the approval ratings of congress and the president. how do you change that culture? can it be changed? >> it can and it used to be

better. so we know that there is some kind of model to follow. part of it is the personal interactions but as i mentioned in that piece, it's not just a matter of having 535 people who just can't agree on anything. it's also the informal rules and customs that certain folks have exploited to literally last year shut down the government and, in some cases, hold up judicial nominations so some of those informal rules also have to be looked at. the senate, as we know, revamped their filibuster rules and if it continues i think you'll see the longstanding rules to change. >> let's hope so. congressman joaquin castro, thank you. >> thank you very much. >> gene robinson, we will look for your online column. up ahead, a preview of the state of the union from inside the white house next on "morning

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tonight, let's declare that in the wealthiest nation on earth, no one who works

full-time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. the time has come to pass comprehensive immigration reform. now is the time to do it. now is the time to get it done. americans who believe in the second amendment have come together around common sense reform like background checks that will make it harder for criminals to get their hands on a gun. senators -- >> some of president obama's goals from last year's state of the union address and joining us now from the white house with a look at tonight's speech, senior adviser valerie jarrett. good to see you this morning. >> good morning. good morning, everyone, and mika. >> good morning, valerie. >> you look so excited! i can't wait. valerie is on. he actually said that. here is the deal, valerie. let me just start with something that julieanna goldman said last hour and that is the president's

list at his last state of the union address listed a great many goals. and only two of them ultimately were accomplished. how does he change that tonight, given the tune-out factor that so many are talking about? >> well, those goals, mika, reflect the priorities of the american people so we don't give up just because we didn't accomplish it in one year. what the president will do tonight is set forth very specific concrete proposals that he thinks will move our country forward, create opportunity for hard working americans who want to succeed. i think that those proposals are going to call for action. he will continue to push congress to pass major pieces of legislation and whether it's immigration reform or trade agreements but he will also make clear tonight he will take action on his own and you saw earlier this morning, he announced his intent to raise the minimum wage for all new federal contracts. he is going to reach out around the country, work with mayors and governors and the business community just last week, we had

college and university professors and presidents here working hard to help young disadvantaged young people to get into school and succeed and that was a great call to action. people around our country are hungry for action. you'll hear from the president tonight is all about action, creating opportunity, and it's going to be a very optimistic speech. >> i'm going to go to cokie in a second. i know the focus will also be helping the long-term unemployed, which is certainly a big issue right now. >> it is. and what we are finding through our analysis is that the longer you have been out of a jorks the ha -- job, the harder it is to get a job. the people will convene a large group of business leaders who are committed to make it easier for the long-term unemployed to get back into productive livelihood. >> cokie roberts here, miss jarrett. >> good morning. >> the business leaders and university types and all of them can't vote in the house of representatives or the senate.

and that is where your problem lies. so what do you do to try to get those people to come around to your issues? >> we continue to make our case just as we have since the president took office and, you know, we have accomplished a great deal. you have to remind yourself that five years ago, we were losing 750,000 jobs a month in the last 46 months, we have created over 8 million jobs, 500,000 manufacturing jobs and our automobile industry is back again. we have made a great deal of progress. but there are still big challenges ahead. so we will continue to call on congress, both sides of the aisle, so come up with new and fresh ideas for how we can grow our economy and create opportunities for the american people, but we aren't going to stop at that. we will do what we can within the president's own executive power and working throughout the country with those who want to move our country forward. there is a lot of potential there and i think the optimism that the president has comes from that grit and determination of the american people of our businesses, many of who are

bringing jobs back to america. so we have some momentum going and we just need to call on everybody to work together and that is what the president will do this evening. >> so, valerie, when the president looks at the poll numbers, 71% of americans dissatisfied with the direction of the country, 63% think we are on the wrong track, i think some troubling abc news poll numbers as well talking about americans losing confidence in the president. what does he do in the sixth year, this difficult year for any president, what does he do to turn things around, not just for the country but also for himself and what the country thinks of the job he is doing? >> well, joe, as you know, the president has never paid a lot of attention to the poll numbers. when he comes to work in the morning, he is thinking about the letters that he read the night before from, you know, a single mom who is struggling hard to make end's meet and take care of her children and her

parents, and is suffering under a minimum wage. what can he do to raise her wage so she doesn't have to raise her children in poverty? those are the kinds of stories that motivate the president every day. and his energy and his enthusiasm for supporting those hard working americans is as strong today as it ever was and you just don't give up. you just keep coming back at it again and again and you do what you can to take action on your own own, so you're not simply waiting for congress. sometimes what they will do is listen what is going on at the local level and maybe that puts pressure on them to take action. >> valerie, before you go, i know we have a hard wrap here. will you be watching kathy mcmorris-rodgers, mike lee, or rand paul in the choice of three republican responses? >> you know what? i hope to be doing rachel maddow's show on msnbc so i won't be able to listen to those. >> thomas, quick. >> good morning. >> good morning.

>> as we talk about the president's schedule after the state of the union we know that you're doing the first presidential google plus hangout on friday and friday is traveling to milwaukee and nashville and also to pittsburgh. everybody says the president is great on the road and in campaign mode, but do you ever advise the president that now is the time to become the most popular guy on the hill? >> look. i think that from day one, the president has reached out on both sides of the aisle to congress and it is not a matter of just having dinners and schmoozing. people in congress have to decide they want to actually get something done and compromise and work with us. whenever they have been willing to do that, we have been able to do big things. this country can still do big things. so the president will continue to work with congress. it's important that we pass big pieces of legislation. but what is clear is he can't stop at that and he intends to take action and be very concrete and specific this evening with the american people about the priorities that he has heard from them and that is creating

opportunity for all americans. >> valerie jarrett, a full day ahead for you and the president. >> yes. >>' will all be watching. i'll watching kathy and valerie. coming up, you know pope francis is a star when he makes the cover of "rolling stone"? hello! we are going to go inside the magazine with contributing editor mark binelli's cover story straight ahead. ♪

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you should see. it's something they ought to think about. here with us now, contributing editor for "rolling stone" magazine, he wrote this week's cover story on pope francis. the touchingly enduring mr. smith goes to washington fantasy in which a noble political figure finally tells the american people the truth. tends not to happen in real-life democracy, you may have noticed. there's too much money, too much

interest. such a scenario could probably take place only in an arcane throwback of an institution like the vatican, where secret ballots and an utter absence of transparency made the rise of an unknown quality like bergoglio possible. had the race instead been for an obscure house seat in kentucky the opposition research team would have reduced his campaign to rubble within weeks. >> by the time they figured out what they got, too late. >> too late. >> what fantastic luck. >> for a billion catholics. not so much so for a handful of cardinals. talk about what you saw over there. >> as i said, he came in second the last papal election when benedict won. >> right. >> this time, everyone figured he basically aged out. he was 76 when he was elected. everybody thought that the church was basically in this crisis mode, they had been hit with all these scandals under benedict.

everybody thought they would want somebody younger, more vibra vibrant. he had already turned in his letter of resignation as archbishop of buenos aires. he had no clue when he went there. >> it's amazing. >> the election was really quite something to cover. and the fact is that in the days leading up to the con clave where all these men in dresses go into the sistine chapel, it is all so peculiar. they did start talking about bergolio. of course, they didn't start telling us this until acid so we didn't have any scoops. apparently, he was very impressive to them in those days leading up to the vote. >> he may have -- all of the cardinals get to make a speech during the conclave. apparently his speech was a three-minute speech. he spoke about things, about how the church was too inward looking and there needs to be

more outreach and more of an effort to that sort of open armed church. and i think that made an impression on people. the other thing i heard was the three front-runners were all opposing factions of italians who all hated each other. >> there we go. now we figured out why -- >> through the middle. >> right. >> mark, for the millions of disenfranchised catholics around the world, this pope is someone that makes us take a second look. and i know getting the cover of "rolling stone" is certainly a unique honor. >> has that ever happened? >> for the pope. >> for the pope? >> no. i mean, bono. >> pope of a different sort there. but do you think that he recognizes the simplistic message that he has and what he represents and how that is being more aligned with the jesus principle and that's attractive to so many catholics who have

lost their way with organized faith? zblie think his message is deceptively simple. he came out of working in these slums in buenos aires, dealing with many illiter aates. he is also very canny political operator. he he knows what he's doing. the wrap on him is that it's all style and he's changing the tone and he's sort of like a friendlier figure than benedict. the doctrine isn't changing that much. one of the priests i quote in the piece points out that the catholic church -- in the catholic church, style is substance. it's a church of symbols. >> right. >> right. >> this wafer represents jesus. so having a guy at the top change the style is a huge, huge thing. >> like bill clinton and other great politicians, he thrives on personal contact, which makes a

huge difference. i heard early on, he doesn't like living in, you know, massive places by himself. he likes other people around. and this gives him the ability to go out, greet followers for, you know, an hour at a time and absolutely loves it. >> that's true. even -- popes all do a morning mass. benedict apparently would just do a private mass with his immediate staff, like his housekeeper and a few other people. francis has hundreds of people sometimes come every morning. and he personally apparently greets each one of them and really just -- >> and gives little sermons that are quite charming. and so he's a pope of a different stort. >> mark binelli, thank you very much. >> you have to feel sorry for him. chuck todd is freezing, right,

outside? mark, you're having to go to italy for a week. >> mark's book "detroit city:it's the place to be" is out in paperback. >> great. >> congratulations. up next, the president prepares for state of the union as three republicans prepare to respond. but some brand new poll numbers are telling us ahead of the speech. keep it here. [ doctor ] and in a clinical trial versus lipitor,

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and in the skyway i saw below me this land was made for you and me ♪ >> welcome to "morning joe." that, obviously, the sound of pete seeger, who popularized "this land is your land" and wrote so many american classics. also popularized "we shall overcome." wrote "turn turn turn" "if i had a hammer" and so many others. what an incredible story. >> passed away at age 90. >> 94. >> good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it's tuesday, january 28th. we have former chairman of the republican national committee michael steele, abc news political reporter and analyst

cokie roberts. also author of the children's book "founding mothers." >> i'm taking this home with me. >> the illustrations are fabulous. >> diane goode has done them. >> look at this. >> these women's stories are so much fun. these are the women who influenced the founding fathers and they -- i wrote a grown-up book about them a while back. so this is the children's version. and kids are loving it, i'm thrilled to say. i tried it out on my own grandchildren. >> wonderful. >> of course, they had sense enough to say that -- >> they're smart. >> of course, they've got good genes. i have a goddaughter who is getting this, eliza. in washington, former white house press secretary and msnbc robert gibbs and white house correspondent for bloomberg, juliana goldman. good to have you all on board this morning. okay. where do we begin?

>> we have a lot to talk about. >> poll numbers that are pretty painful. >> poll numbers for the president. of course, as we prepare for the state of the union, poll numbers for chris christie, pretty stunning. precipitous drop there. let's begin quickly with pete. >> all right. he was, as you pointed out, the father of folk music. this morning, of course, we get the new that is pete seeger has died. he dropped out of harvard after founding a radical student newspaper and often described himself as a communist with a small c. by the '50s, he was fighting against mccarthyism, black listed and indicted for defying the house unamerican activities committee. he had modest success with his musical group, the weavers. many of his songs gained greater fame through other groups. he wrote classics, as joe pointed out like "turn turn turn" "if i had a hammer" and "where have all the flowers gone" and he was a voice of protest during vietnam, playing

for tens of thousands in washington, d.c. some 40 years later, he stood in front of the lincoln memorial, as we came in to, alongside his grandson and bruce springsteen, singing "this land is your land." it was a celebration for barack obama's inauguration. he was a kennedy award recipient and a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. his impact on modern american musicians from rock to folk is incalculable. he tried tirelessly to clean new york's hudson river and later years even participated in occupy wall street. pete seeger was 94 years old. what a life. >> what a life. cokie, i was 5 years old in georgia, i remember my mother, who was a musician, trying to teach me guitar. and she started with "where have all the flowers gone." i just took the guitar out like six months ago and was showing

that song to kate. >> oh, that's fun. >> and i was just actually moved by the lyrics. >> right. >> and the simplisticity. >> we can sing all those songs in harmony. watch out. >> oh, lord. >> but he was the music of many generations now. >> yeah. >> i was going to say what struck me about his music soun s s like "turn turn turn" very soft. it was something that was easy on the ears but had a very powerful message. we considered that era with a music of the rock and hard drive. he had this calm little -- >> simple. >> reflected also that undertone of the movements of the 1960s, the peace marches of king and so forth. >> just think about the scope of his life. he dropped out of college three

years before world war ii begins. he goes through mccarthyism, is thrown in jail for contempt of congress because he won't testify about the communist party. >> then the other end. >> occupy wall street and now he's playing for president obama's inaugural at the age of 89. what a life. >> contempt citations were really something. people don't realize, people actually went to jail and it was because they refused to take the fifth amendment. they wouldn't say i refuse to testify, it might incriminate me. they took the first amendment and said i refuse to testify because of freedom of speech and were just thrown right in jail for it. >> and really quickly, to fill in the blanks for some people that are watching this and heard the read, a couple of quick things, first of all. dropped out of harvard 1940. he was actually protesting against the draft, the peace-time draft. as soon as the bombs dropped at pearl harbor, he enlisted in the

army, served in the army and later regretted saying -- being a communist and said he thought that stalin was something that he was not. and it actually came up in a really good "usa today" story this morning that came out after bob dylan called him a stant and he said oh, god, i've made so many terrible mistakes in my life. so, anyway -- self reflective as well. pete seeger, remarkable man, gone at 94. moving on now. tonight, president obama delivers his state of the union address before congress. according to new polling, the president faces a fractured nation, skeptical that he can turn things around. nbc news wall street journal poll shows 37% of americans say our state of the union is divided. other words used to describe it, troubled, deteriorating and broken. just 3% believe the union is strong. 33% say they are pessimistic and

worried about the remaining three years of president obama's second term. just 16% say they are optimistic and confident. so, eight points down from the same time last year. 63% say they are currently on the wrong track -- that we are on the wrong track, also up from last year and just 28% are satisfied with the economy. 71% are dissatisfied. when asked who the economy works best for, 81% say the wealthy and 53% say men. cokie, founding mothers, author of. only 22% said the economy works for the middle class. all of those factors contributed to president obama's 43% approval rating. it is the third straight poll by nbc and "the wall street journal" where the president's disapproval rating was over 50%. things aren't going any better on capitol hill. this poll marks the sixth

consecutive time at least 80% of americans had a negative view of congress. >> pretty staggering. >> look at that number. that's down to relatives. >> the family plan as they say. sixth time in a row. >> i don't know. maybe just relatives. now 45% say they would like democrats to take control of congress during this year's mid term elections. >> chuck todd also pointed out yesterday one of the shocking things about this poll is that for ten years now, americans have believed this country was going in the wrong direction. that's never happened before. just like for the first time ever time and time again more americans think, cokie, that their children's future will not be as bright as their own. that's never happened in american history before. the president has a lot of problems but these problems are also -- they transcend just one administration, one party, one president. >> they do. it puts him as -- >> he owns them. >> he owns them. as he goes in tonight, you know,

he's going to be speaking to a congress that's completely disconnect friday what he has to say. why should they pay any attention to him? you know, he is in the navy sea poll that came out, it was negative. more people disapproved of the handling than approved it, with one exception of terrorism. at that one he was 60% approved, 42% disapprove. that's down dramatically from where it used to be. it was the first time it was in a majority. he has a huge problem here. now you saw in your poll and same thing in the abc poll. so does the congress but on issues again, they come back around that the economy which, of course, you can see in your poll is the main reason that people are so dissatisfied. and, of course, it's the issue

they care about going into this election. they do trust the republicans more on the economy right now than they do the democrats. on that very fundamental question that separates the parties, which party do you think has a better idea of the size and scope of the federal government? republicans win on that. it's really tough for the president as he tries to present a bunch of programs. >> giuliani, if you look at those poll numbers, it's not just the president that the country is tuning out. 81% disapproving on capital hill. we have nothing to show for it, with all these entitlements. i guess the only thing we did do was health care. >> very controversial. >> the president got that through and look what that turned into. how do we retore faith in washington and not just the presidency and capitol hill, but the process. >> there's a staggering

statistic for the president going into tonight's speech. from last year's state of the union out of the 41 asks he made of congress, he got two. do you know what they were? raising the debt ceiling and a reauthorization of the violence against women act. so, there certainly isn't a good track record heading in. that sort of explains the president's challenge tonight as you look at the polls and why there is this emphasis on income of equality. banks, financial institutions, big businesses doing well. they're seeing them as the beneficiaries of the economic recovery and they're seeing that their wages are stagnant, that the benefits of the recovery, of obama's recovery have not hit them yet. >> so, michael steele, there will be competing rebuttals tonight, the president's speech. >> can't wait. >> to say the least. congresswoman rogers, mike lee for the tea party and rand paul has his own personal rebuttal. >> for rand paul.

>> for rand paul. >> yeah, which i just -- >> we have a triforcated message. >> wonderful. >> it just illustrates and lifts up for those folks out there, you know, the question. who is going to lead here. >> right. >> if you've got the party that can't corrale itself enough on this one night to say let's have a consistent, forward-thinking message delivered on behalf of all the republicans, not just the ones in congress, but the nation. >> but they can't. >> but they can't. and that's going to be the driver. the question that reflects in the polls, if people are looking at congress as the 13% number, who do they vote for this november? in all likelihood, they're going to send those people back to congress. >> do they bother to show up to vote? >> right. >> and so this kind of approach that we've seemed to have fallen

into in the last few presidential addresses does not get us around or over that hurdle. >> president obama is going to be signing an executive order, requiring that janitors, construction workers and other federal contractors be paid at least $10.10 an hour, using his own powers to enact a more limited versionative policy that has yet to push through congress. raising the federal minimum wage from $7.25. >> for contractors, for federal contractors. >> for contractors. >> yeah. that's his line these days, which is he has a pen and a phone and that can he do things by executive action where he doesn't need the congress and he's trying to send them a message to raise the general minimum wage. they may or may not do that. as juliana just said, they haven't done much. it's unlikely that they'll do it. it's an interesting issue. really, what that issue does, it gets to his base. it does not get to the general public. even men who want to -- who are

making the minimum wage and want to make more, basically, are just off this president and the democratic party. whereas the majority of people on the minimum wage are women and they will -- >> i like it. >> -- probably respond positively. >> can i just go? >> real quick. go ahead, robert. >> i would say i disagree somewhat with what cokie just said. raising the minimum wage is something that is probably into the 70s in terms of its popularity. the question for tonight is not whether or not it's popular. a lot of the things you'll hear about are popular. but that is how do you get them through congress? how do you get a 70 or 75% issue through the house of representatives? how do you get it to the president's desk? i think that's what people will want to hear about tonight. >> one more story before we go to break. nbc/wall street journal poll also looks at how the recent

scandals in new jersey impact governor chris christie. just 22% of americans say they have a positive view of christie, down from 33% last october. and the percent of voters that have a negative view of the governor has increased 12 points. meanwhile, 42% say he is telling the truth and 44% do not. tepid support. as nbc first read points out his presidential future may be on the line according to these numbers. >> you're grimacing, michael. those numbers, what a precipitous drop. >> it really is. it's reflecting with the story sinking in with folks, more revelations, more information coming out, more democrats who once supported him, endorsing him, now coming out and telling these stories. that's why i said then and i say now, christie's focus has to be

on jersey, on being the governor of new jersey. i understand the competition for his time with the rga and the desire to get him out there. i think if he steps it back, dims the light on the stage a bit and really focuses on sort of regalvanizing himself in the state, that then ripples out. it dims the noise. >> the republican party is never going to nominate chris christie. this republican party is never going to do that. i don't care if the george washington bridge could never have been built and they still never would have -- >> really? >> look at those numbers, willie. >> okay. >> 22% positive, 29% negative. absolutely stunning and a quick reversal. i mean, i wrote a cover story in "time" magazine after the guy got elected, talking about his future. and the battle with getting conservatives over. i think he could have done it. i think he still can. i agree with michael steele. if i'm chris christie, head down, jersey first. >> do your work. >> jersey all the time.

and, you know, it's the best thing he can hope for. >> relentless coverage will take n effect on your numbers. >> and late-night comedians. they've had a ball with him. we'll check in with politico's mike allen. plus, hamid karzai accuses the u.s. of backing insurgent attacks in afghanistan. >> what we doing? >> in an effort to keep the country unstable. >> seriously, we're still there? >> after all, who doesn't love more billions of dollars into a manufactured war zone? karzai's latest comments next. >> is it the taliban's idea? first bill karins has a check on the forecast. bill? >> doesn't answer you. you're better off, mika. snow in the south from texas all the way back up into virginia. lot of schools are canceled across the south. lot of governments even telling people to stay at home. heaviest snow that will be found in the carolinas. we could see eastern north

carolina up toward the outer banks could get six to 12 inches of snow. virginia beach, you'll be doing a lot of plowing and shoveling. that will shut the town down for a day or two. watch out for the ice around mobile to new orleans. but especially the worst areas for ice, savannah to charleston to myrtle beach, coastal carolina and georgia. widespread power outages because of significant ice. not a fun morning in indiana. lot of school canceled up into minneapolis and chicago because of the dangerous windchills. these pictures of traverse city. that's a snow drift. that's a snow mountain covering up all the windows now to the very top. it's been a harsh, harsh january. hopefully, february will bring us better things. super bowl forecast looks great if you're peyton manning fan, this is exactly what you want. clear skies and nice temperatures. not miami nice but nice by new

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>> what's that? all right. >> welcome back to "morning joe." >> yeah. >> let's take a look at the morning papers. >> let's do that. >> "the washington post," hamid karzai is leveling new accusations against the united states government, including the government behind terrorist attacks aiming at weakening his

control and gaining instability in the country. he claims the u.s. was involved in a recent assault in the capital leaving some dead, including three americans. ambassador to afghanistan called karzai's comments, quote, divorced from reality. and begs the question that we've been asking since 2009, why do we keep sending troops toefr fight for this man? >> good question. charleston daily mail says the january 9th chemical spill was much worse than originally reported. regulators now believe around 10,000 gallons of chemicals leaked into the state's water supply. initial estimates have the leak at 7,500 gallons. residents in nine counties along the elk river were unable to use their tap water for days because of the leak. >> the impact of that for years to come potentially is just terrible. >> "the new york times," spy

agencies are tapping into phone apps, access personal information such as the user's location, sexual orientation. google maps, flickr and facebook such as popular games such as angry birds. i better tell jack, my 5-year-old boy. >> yes. >> that star wars 2 angry birds has his targeted by the nsa. great work, guys. great work. >> they have to keep their eye on everyone, i guess. >> even jack. >> yeah. from our parade of papers "the star ledger" linking exposure to the pesticide ddt to alzheimer's. rutgers university of research found 80% of those with the disease had been exposed to the chemical. on average, levels of ddt were nearly four times higher in the blood of adults with the condition.

the use of ddt was banned in 1972. from the boston globe, guests at the state of the union address seatd with first lady michelle obama. two survivors of the boston bombing, ceo of general motor. >> first woman. >> and the teacher who talked down a gunman at an elementary school. guests have been invited traditionally related to themes of the state of the union. >> "san francisco chronicle" apple's iphone sales indicate demand may be fading. sales fell short. experts say this is proof that apple is losing market share to competitors like samsung. stocks fell 8% yesterday. one of the problems? >> yep. >> is when you break your iphone and you go back.

you get sucked into an abusiness of trying to figure out how to replace it. >> this happens to you all the time. >> this happens to a lot of people. >> into the abyss? you have such awful luck with that. >> no, they just -- this is like almost a scam. >> people complain about the battery life. i've got at least another five, ten minutes left on my iphone. >> perfect. use it quickly. >> use my app. >> don't go out in the cold. >> i shan't. i shall not. >> quentin tarantino predatory journalism that the story was on the line and has no idea how the story appeared on the internet. let's go to politico. >> i don't understand that story. >> i don't quite either. >> who is going to sue gawker? >> gawker is going to do what gawker is going to do. >> let gawker be gawker.

>> let gawker be gawker. >> let's check in with mike allen. >> predatory journalism is a good thing. >> there it is. okay. said mike allen. ed gillespie has missed out on an endorsement as he tries to win mark warner's senate seat. talk about this a little bit and warner backing a warner. >> a slap to ed gillespie from one of the best-known, most-trusted republicans in the state. john wrn arner, long-time senat i remember covering him as a cub down in virginia. i'm proud but humble to be your senior senator. and he once ran against the man that he is now endorsing, mark warner. way back in 1996, mark warner challenged him as first statewide race and mark warner had bumper stickers that said

mark not john. the two not related. today, mark warner, who is a moderate, someone who can reach a lot of centrist voters came out and said that republicans should vote for mark warner, a democrat. the reasons he gave was the fact that the commonwealth benefits from the seniority that mark has built up in the senate and also that he has done a good job of looking out for the big military presence. he didn't take a swipe or say anything about gillespie. this was a rough way for ed to start off when his campaign just launched. >> does this say more about warner's relationship with mark warner? they had a pretty civil campaign when they ran against each other or does it say something about the way that warner feels about ed gillespie? >> i think that's a great point. it's certainly more about the friendship. the two have worked closely together. and john warner likes to stay in the news. this was a great way to do it. >> politico's mike allen. thanks, mike. senator tom coburn tells us

why he's leaving washington. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." let's say you pay your guy around 2 percent to manage your money. that's not much, you think except it's 2 percent every year. go to e*trade and find out how much our advice and guidance costs. spoiler alert. it's low. it's guidance on your terms not ours. e*trade. less for us, more for you.

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unfortunately, folks, the evening was marred when my

friend macklemor and ryan lewis had to sing their anthem same love. >> we are gathered here to celebrate love and harmony in every key and every color. as i look out on this audience i'm delighted to see the faces of 33 couples who have chosen this moment to celebrate their vows with us here in los angeles. by the power vested in me by the state of california, i now pronounce you a married couple! >> i don't know about you, but madonna's entrance gave me the urge to eat a bucket of fried chicken. >> there was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake during the race and it didn't stop the guy calling the race from staying calm, trying to do his job. it's weird. check this out. >> shaking here, i'm afraid. it looks like we might have a bit of an earthquake going on in

here. a big earthquake, in fact. a very large earthquake here. the race is under way here. unfortunately, the monitor has fallen on me. >> what does it take to rattle that guy? i'm being mugged. i'm bleeding a little actually. i'm bleeding a lot. rusty's in the lead. coming up, senator tom coburn is stepping down but he has a pretty big to-do list before he does. topping the agenda, replacing obamacare. he will tell us about his newly released plan when he joins us next. [ male announcer ] staples has everything you need to launch your big idea.

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now from capitol hill this first morning interview since he announced his retirement, senator from oklahoma, senator tom coburn. thank for being with us. >> glad to be with you guys. >> always happy to have you here. i know you've had some health battles in the past and you've always come out on top and we're hoping all goes well with you. >> i'm doing well from a health standpoint, got great docs and fortunately, even though my new coverage won't cover my specialists, i'm going to have great care and i have a great prognosis. >> good. you did say accurately that people, as long as you've been

in washington, people should be more concerned with your mental health their your physical health. >> you bet. so the president is going up, delivering yet another state of the union address. you've been in congress nine, ten years been in the senate. chuck todd just told us something pretty depressing. americans believe this country has been on the wrong track for a decade now. that's unprecedented. how can we turn that around? >> it's all leadership, joe. principle, moral based leadership that puts the country and the leadership first not a political party first, not my to-do-list first but what our nation was founded on and that's both liberty and equality.

when you have an imbalance of either, we're in trouble. and so what we need is real leadership and my friend has used the politics of division more than any president i know in my lifetime and what you have today is tremendous anxiety in our country we need a healing leader that will talk truthfully about our country and the sacrifices required if we are to solve them. and leadership is about sacrifice, to do the best right thing in the long term for our country, not the best right thing for the republican party or the democratic party but the best right thing. and when you care more about elections than you do the country and the leaders of the political parties do, what you're seeing is an unwinding of the confidence in our country that's required to keep the

republic together. >> tom, those are obviously strong words against barack obama. tell me, why do you believe he has been the most decisive president in your lifetime? >> no, i said he uses the politics of division. i don't think he is the most divisive necessarily. using that creates -- it undermines confidence. >> give me an example. >> what we need to do is bring people together. we need to define what are we about? what are the goals of our nation? if we bring people together what we're going to see is no matter what the problem is, the confidence of the people -- if you're speaking truthfully about the confidence about what the real problems are, then you create a predicate for solving them. if you don't speak about what the real problems are, but you talk about the symptoms of the problem, you don't have any predicate to build the political base or the unanimity to solve

them. >> we've been talking -- we republicans need to do more than just be against what the president is for. we have to present our own viable alternatives, conservative alternatives. specifically, you're putting your money where your mouth is on health care. talk about it. >> there's no question that we need to redirect our resources and how we approach health care in our country. i think we went the exact wrong direction with the affordable care act. it's actually unaffordable. you have 2 million people who have lost air thaul insurance.

we didn't fix it and we expanded a broken system rather than repair a broken system in medicaid which promises people access when they go to get it, there is no access. so what we've done is we've said, let's go the other direction. we put out a bill that gives the great protections that were in the affordable care act in terms of pre-existing illness and created a way so people can have their own personal choice, make their own decisions rather than the government making decisions for them. and we move health care back to a patient-centered health care that is both staten centered and patient centered where we're not mandating here is what you must do, here is how you must do it and here is the penalty. we eliminate the penalty. we trust people that they're going to act in their own best interest. we have put out on the table ideas that won't cost anything. they'll save money. we'll cut a trillion dollars of the 10 some great care with

their choice, with what they think they need for their family. i have a little bit of experience in medicine. quite a bit of experience in business and i think what we have offered is something that we can be for and proudly defend against all the attacks. you know, i was really disturbed yesterday when jay carney lambasted what we did without knowing what we did, which tells you something. you know, what we have done is put out a pretty good policy paper that even critics of what we have put out before is a vast improvement. again, it's all about the politics rather than the country. and, you know, that's one of the reasons i think i need to go and work in other ways to try to help heal our country. and ten years in the senate is enough for anybody. >> sir, this is thomas roberts. a lot of people hear what you're saying about how d.c. is not

work i working. majority of the country in federal elections in '08 and again in 2012 to elect president obama. we see that americans have kept the division in congress after 2010. so it's not so much that there's been a politics of divisions playing from the white house. it's the american people that have elected to keep us divided and the fact that we know that on the very first night that president obama was elected in '08, people gathered together on the right to say what can we do to make this a one-term president. that didn't happen. and now we have the continued conversation over obama care with the first mandate coming up on march 31st for americans to be involved. do you think that you continue to fight a losing battle when it comes to dredging up problems with obamacare? >> no, i don't think so. i think obamacare is designed to fail. it will fail in terms of -- if

you're really wanting to improve the access to health care in terms that give people access, it's not going to accomplish it. it's going to cost a fortune. i think it's a failure already. website or not. it doesn't have anything to do with the website. the fact is what was designed and what will be designed in terms of the employer mandate and what you're going to see in terms of cost -- look, people who have re-signed up have re-signed up even with subsidies to much worse insurance products for them in terms of deductibles. so when you net out what's happened with the affordable care act, right now it's a 7-1 loser for people with insurance. for every one person that got insurance, seven people lost insurance that had insurance. so, you know, this isn't going to work. and the reason it isn't going to work is because you're trying to dictate and mandate into the

insurance industry something that's going to eventually collapse the insurance industry. >> senator, this is michael steele. real quick before we go, it's good to see you. you make a very good point on health care. tonight we're going to have three responses by republicans to the state of the union. how do we galvanize the country around an idea, unifying principle when we've got three different messages that are going to be out there tonight instead of talking about something as concise as you just laid out? >> first of all, the vast majority of america isn't going to pay attention to this speech and the vast majority of america isn't going to pay attention to any of the responses to it. in your own life you demonstrate leadership principles that talk about what you're for and when you're pointing out what's wrong with something, you have to have a solution that's different than it. and what you have to do is not be critical of the motivation, but critical of the idea and its result. so you can disagree with somebody without being

disagreeable and you can hope to change them with good ideas in a pleasant manner. >> yeah. >> this is a speech, great. the fact is that if you really want to work with congress, you have to be willing to sit down, rub elbows, compromise and say, we're going to go. and what we're hearing in this speech is if you don't want to do what i want i'm going to do it through executive order. and, again, that's creating a division in the country that says congress is bad and i'm good. so, therefore, i'm going to do what i'm going to do. i think that's the wrong way to lead. >> senator tom coburn, always good to see you. thank you so much. >> you're welcomwelcome. >> talk to you soon. coming up next, cnbc's brian sullivan has business before the bell. keep it here on "morning joe." then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing.

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me either. it was up year over year, but below wall street expectations, so that stock is down this morning. some talk out there on recode, the new partnership between some of the folks formerly of all things d and nbc universal that yahoo! may look to buy yelp or four square. i know mika is not there with you right now but dwayne shank, she wrote the forward to his book "reset," he will be on our show today, talking about what it's like to lose your job in the worst economy. >> hey, mika, dw. a. n's going to be on brian's show at 2:00 today. >> oh, that's right. >> that's awesome, man. she's just hanging out. hangs out in the studio. "reset." that's exciting. >> it's like yelling through the house. >> tune in. there you go. >> hold on one second. ma, meatloaf! ma! meatloaf. >> phone's for you. >> i'm in the basement.

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including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. ask your gastroenterologist about humira today. remission is possible. you know what? i will have some meatloaf. >> want some? >> yeah. >> hey, ma, the meatloaf! we want it now. the meatloaf! >> ma. there you go. one of the great moments of "wedding crashers." so, mika? >> yes.

>> this comes from matt at 30g9 street guitar. >> how cool. i heard about this place. >> "morning joe" fan. >> can i have this? >> great gear. that's where you go. >> i'm going to wear it running. thank you very much. pope francis. enough said. >> thank you. rolling stone. >> this whole morning show doesn't work out for you two, you have a career as tsa agents. >> yeah, look at that. >> shaking people down. >> shaking him down. >> joe did the cavity search. >> it's way too early. >> it's your day tomorrow. >> exactly. >> it's way too early, what time is it? >> it's "morning joe." >> now time for chuck todd. >> and cokie's book. awesome. on amazon. >> whatever. six-year pitch now just 12 hours before president obama delivers his state of the union for 2014. his team is making it clear, they expect little to no help at all from congress. so, this hour we'll hear from a lot of members of congress about that, including house